Making Tracks For Louth

Extending The Line

Our long-term objective

The restoration of the Grimsby to Louth railway was the long-term objective of the preservation group which was formed when the line was closed by British Rail over thirty years ago.

Ludborough station became the group’s base and then the long haul began to rebuild this historic line as a heritage railway. Since then much progress has been made, and in 2009 a milestone was reached when steam trains started running to North Thoresby.

Where do we go from here?

The plan now is to extend the line in stages, as funds become available, southwards towards Louth. The LWR owns the trackbed as far as the industrial estate on the outskirts of Louth – a distance of 5 miles.

Our first target is to reach Pear Tree Lane but there is much enabling work, such as clearing undergrowth and scraping and preparing the trackbed, which needs to be done before we can extend the line.

Building a quarter mile of track requires

44 lengths of rail

4 rolls of membrane

800 metres of drainage pipe

30 tons of gravel

44 pairs of fishplates

450 tons of ballast

528 sleepers

176 fishplate bolts

1,056 steel keys

How you can help

It costs nearly £280,000 to lay a mile of track so you can see the scale of the challenge. We need to raise funds to purchase materials such as ballast, rails and sleepers before we can progress.

Any donation, no matter how large or small, will be gratefully received.

£600 buys 1 length of rail

£308 buys 1 roll of membrane

£150 buys 50 metres of drainage pipe

£60 buys 1 ton of gravel

£50 buys 1 pair of fishplates

£30 buys 1 sleeper

£5 buys 1 fishplate bolt

£1 buys 1 steel key

To make a one-off contribution simply click on the button below showing the amount you wish to donate.